


Things Fall Apart

by prismatism



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, inspired by Mindful Education, set shortly after The Answer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 03:38:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7919086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismatism/pseuds/prismatism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby and Sapphire find out that being a permanent fusion isn't as easy as just running away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Fall Apart

On the surface, the Crystal Gems were much nicer than Blue Diamond’s Court. At least, there was no talk of shattering anyone. But sometimes their words made her projection itch — or worse.

“You’re looking a bit stressed,” Snowflake Obsidian commented as she passed, carrying a load of metal towards the forge. “Why don’t you two take a break? Fusion seems so exhausting. You can’t stay like that forever.” And then she had passed, continuing down a tunnel of rose vines without glancing back for a reaction from the fusion.

The hills around her tinged with purple and the sky fell completely black. She cowered as silhouettes of gems loomed over, speaking in a chorus of voices.  
_Look there’s the fusion! Oh, I can’t wait to meet the two of you for real._  
“What’s happening?” The ground seemed to pitch, and she stumbled backwards.  
_So, what are your names?_  
“I don’t understand.” Even closing all of her eyes couldn’t shut out the visions. “Why don’t we know what we are?”  
_You will be shattered for this!_  
Blue Diamond’s hooded figure filled her field of view, pushing aside all the others. “Don’t hurt her!”  
_You can’t stay like that forever…_

Something tore at her chest, a sensation she imagined might be similar to shattering. Everything around her flashed white, and then she was gone. 

* * *

 Ruby and Sapphire tumbled apart from one another, falling into the grass.

“What happened?” Ruby asked, jumping back to her feet immediately. “Did– Did you want to stop, because of Snowflake? I– I didn’t want to.”

Sapphire picked herself up more slowly, hovering slightly to make the motion smoother. “No, I didn’t either. Hasn’t this happened to you before?”

“Not like this!” Ruby began pacing back and forth, leaving a trail of burnt patches behind her. “We only unfused when we were done fighting, or– or when somebody hit us too hard. And there was never any…” She waved her hands in the air. “Ugh! Why did Snowflake even have to ask that? She doesn’t understand anything!”

“Even we don’t understand that much,” Sapphire pointed out, pulling the edge of her dress away from a spot of flaming grass.

“But she’s wrong, isn’t she? We don’t have to be apart, do we? Unless…” Ruby paused and turned to look back at Sapphire.

 Sapphire wished she could say something to soothe the fearful uncertainty in Ruby’s eyes. She wanted to say that she saw them together for a long stretch of perhaps even approaching forever. But Ruby had already changed their fate so drastically once, she couldn’t trust that it wouldn’t happen again. “What is it?”

“Errrgh!” She started pacing again, this time with her hands on her head. “Why do they have to keep saying all those things? They have no idea what it’s like to be a fusion.”

“Well, of course not. Most of them have probably never fused before, and even if so, it was likely with the same type of gem.” Other Crystal Gems had begun to notice their conversation, not quite openly staring, but starting to gather nearby. “Let’s talk about this somewhere else.”

“What? Ah–” Ruby had no time to brace herself for the sudden acceleration as Sapphire grabbed her arm and pulled her along. She recognized the place where they finally stopped: a glade with a small pond, surrounded by trees. “Why did you bring us here?”

“I thought we needed a place to talk privately,” Sapphire replied. She took her hand away from Ruby reluctantly, holding it in front of her chest. 

Ruby crossed her arms with a huff. “What do we need to talk about? Everyone else is the problem! We should just tell Snowflake and everybody to stop saying those things, and we’ll be fine.” 

“If we don’t know why our fusion fell apart, we don’t know how to stop it from happening again,” Sapphire stated. “And you didn’t answer my question from earlier: what’s the matter?” 

The grass around Ruby’s feet started singing as she blushed. “I– I didn’t think you notice. I was just–” She paused, hoping for Sapphire or some strange woodland creature to interrupt her so she would have to continue. “Arg, fine! I started worrying that you didn’t want to fuse with me anymore.”

Sapphire froze. In all of the various futures she could see, the two of them fused often, if not all the time. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of them simply choosing to stay separate. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, I’m the reason you’re stuck here, right?” Ruby gestured around to the ground and the trees. “If I hadn’t been so stupid, you’d still be back where you’re supposed to be.”

“Ruby, I was the one who brought us down to Earth, not you,” Sapphire said, unable to think about the past outside of the single truth it had settled ito.

“But you did that because you didn’t want Blue Diamond to shatter me, that– that shouldn’t mean you have to be stuck with me forever!” Ruby burst out, throwing her hands up in the air.

Sapphire stepped back in shock. “Ruby, I didn’t have to do what I did that day. Right after that first time, I couldn’t see the future clearly anymore, but I still knew what to do. I didn’t want to stay in Blue Diamond’s court if it meant being without you. So I chose to run away. I chose to be with you.”

Ruby closed the gap between them, slowly at first, then almost leaping into a hug. “I love you, Sapphire. I don’t ever want to leave you.”

“I love you too, Ruby.”

* * *

Another bright flash, and she was back. Standing tall this time, she placed one foot in front of the other and walked steadily to the edge of the pond. The gem staring back at her from the water looked different from before. Her hair was no longer composed of two distinct colors, but one uniform dark hue. Even the clothes she wore had merged into a more cohesive outfit. She gave herself a nod, then turned away.

“Crystal Gems!” she called from the top of the hill overlooking the camp. All over, warriors stopped to look up at her. She knew what she needed to say. “I may not be one gem, but I am not two gems either. 

“I am Garnet — and I’m here to stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by two of my favorite episodes, so I hope I did them some justice. Thanks for reading!


End file.
